running out of time
by symphonies of you
Summary: "But recently, the clearness of her future had been shrouded by bloodcurdling, heartbroken screams and earth-shattering news of dead relatives and tears pounding down the faces all around her. Some things just couldn't be, and some days she knew what could, some days she didn't." lilymarlene friendship- for jane. One-shot.


**For Jane (jaime-lannisters)- happy belated birthday, babe. Hope you love it!**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own, JKR does. :)**

* * *

It was a beautiful day, the sun casting its rays upon the glistening layer of snow blanketing the ground. Another Ministry function was taking place today—the New Year's ball—and Marlene had invited her this year. _Again_, as it was tradition since fourth year because she never really could say no to her best friend. As much as she hated to admit it, she loved balls. She had never really been a feminine sort of person, but the idea of balls and shopping for dresses and doing each other's hair just appealed to her for some unfathomable reason.

Arriving at the huge manor that was practically her second home, she was ushered in by their family house elf, Fira, and she headed straight for Marlene's room. Up the stairs, past the three guest bedrooms, first left hallway, the last door on the right. She invited herself into the bedroom, smirking slightly at the seated sight of Marlene staring dejectedly at the pile of dresses surrounding her on the floor.

Marly had never been great at picking dresses, especially since she's never been the dressy sort and she had an unforgivable multitude of dresses from her mum to choose from. Lily had already selected a simple strapless dress of a shimmery dark green material that floated above her knees, cinched tightly at her small waist. She wasn't there to impress anyone—she was there to feel comfortable in her own skin.

"Need a bit of help, Marly?" she smiled at her best friend's ritualistic indecisiveness. They went through this process every year.

Lily and Marlene, they had been inseparable since first year. They were complete opposites and yet they balanced each other out in a way that marked the steadfastness of their friendship as something beautiful and _rare_. Marlene was an uncontrollable tornado, spewing fearlessness and rebelliousness and boldness to no end. She was fierce and loyal and blunt, her decisions often edged with irrationality and volatility. Lily was the eye of the storm, serene and organised. She was innocent and practical and sensible with an air of authority and a habitual tendency to speak formally. Lily softens the rough, ragged edges of Marlene's impulsiveness and ridiculous thoughts, and Marlene just makes Lily feel so alive and vibrant and unbelievably _free_ in a way that makes her sigh in her wistfulness of wanting to abandon the ever increasing importance of education and responsibilities.

They needed each other. They just needed each other's presence because they understood each other in a way that no one else could possibly comprehend.

"Can I just go to the fucking ball in my Weird Sisters shirt, cut-offs, and combat boots?" Marlene whined with a pout on her face.

She smirked. "I would say yes, but what would your mother say?"

Marlene swore under her breath and resolved to scrutinise the endless variety of colours and ruffles and silk.

"What do you think of this?" she asked, holding up a striking silver dress that would look brilliant against Marlene's long blonde tresses and ocean eyes.

"Too shiny," Marlene grumbles.

After going through nine dresses, they finally decide on a flattering red long-sleeved dress that flowed down to her ankles, thankfully not exposing too much for Marlene's rigidly inflexible taste.

For someone that claimed to grow weary at the mention of girlish fancies, Marlene was unexpectedly handy with a curling iron. Proceeding to work her magic with Lily's dark red locks, she motioned for Lily to sit down in a swivel chair and she adopted a playful smirk, causing Lily to groan. Whatever was coming up next on their agenda of conversational topics was not going to abode particularly well with Lily.

"So, what's up with you and James?" Marlene asked in a sing-songy voice.

She made a face. She wasn't sure anymore. Sure, she claimed to hate the egotistical, bigheaded prat, but he didn't seem like such an egotistical bigheaded prat anymore. In fact, it seemed like he grew up over the summer. He didn't ask her out everyday at breakfast, he didn't follow her to class, he didn't bother her _in _class, he didn't follow through with his holiday-themed pranks during the holiday seasons. Well, not in front of her, at least. Maybe it was because he was Head Boy this year.

She didn't want to admit it, but she might possibly _miss _his constant badgering, the ever present rush of irritation that usually came with his presence.

"Alright, I suppose. His unforgivably irritable habit of asking me to Hogsmeade has been thankfully absent so far," she replies with a sniff.

Marlene inspected her friend's face closely. "If I'm not mistaken, I'd say that you miss it," she speculated with a smug grin.

Her face burned red. "I certainly do _not_ miss it. I'm rather grateful that he has ceased his infuriating tendencies," she insisted.

He only talked to her whenever they ran into each other—whether he ran into her on purpose, she did not know. They had developed a tentative sort of relationship—_friendship?_—over the past few months. She reckoned that it was inevitable as they were forced to share a common room and bathroom in close quarters. And she was beginning to enjoy the strangeness of his surprisingly tolerable company, and frankly, it was scaring her.

Because how could her feelings of _hatehatehate _concerning Potter be transformed into a misshapen, unformed, reluctant form of acceptance in a few months?

Marlene crowed triumphantly at the sight of Lily's flushed cheeks. "Fuck yes! Lily doesn't hate James anymore. She _misses _him! This is a bloody miracle—I should throw a party and get both of them drunk and make something happen. Godric, why am I such a genius?"

"Oh, do shut up, Marly! This is getting absolutely ridiculous. _Yes_, I do not hate him any longer, but _no_, I do not miss him in the slightest. The words "party" and "drunk" most definitely should not be included in anything relevant to myself," she stuttered, her mouth agape at Marlene's horrifying words.

Marlene just laughed at Lily's flustered countenance. "Do relax, Lils. I was only kidding! I know you'd probably kill me in the morning if I ever got you drunk off your arse. And I'm too young to die such a horrible death at your hands."

Marlene shuddered at the thought of what Lily could do to her. Godric, the girl was a killer with hexes and jinxes. Too bad, she wasn't exactly the sort to have a bit of foolish fun. Seriously, Lily needed to live a little more.

Lily couldn't help but laugh at Marlene. This was why she loved Marlene: she knew how to turn a bad moment into a good one. And she did it in a matter of seconds, as well. Lily never needed a Cheering Charm with Marlene around—Marlene was a Cheering Charm _personified_.

Finished curling Lily's hair, she inspected her work, making Lily turn in a circle, before awarding it an approving grin. Then, she pushed Lily out of the chair, sat down, and smiled at her best friend, waiting for her to tame the mass of blonde waves that refused to be managed.

Lily teasingly scowled at her before moving to untangle some of the knots in Marlene's unfortunately chaotic hair.

"Shall I braid your hair this year, Marly?" Lily suggested.

"I shan't say anything because I'm not looking until you're done," Marlene replied, covering her face with her hands.

And she couldn't help but smile at the childishness so endearingly displayed when Marlene peeked between the gaps between her fingers. Lily mouthed _no looking_ and Marlene just grinned back at her and went back to closing her eyes and covering them with her tiny hands.

Surely such a beautifully untarnished friendship as this could not be matched in these troubled times.

Shamelessly gossiping about noteworthy scandals in the Daily Prophet. Boldly—or _reluctantly_ in Lily's case—sharing secrets about old crushes. They made small talk, complaints, remarks about professors, torturous subjects, boys, and just _anything_ that came to mind. They put aside their worries and fears and just revelled in the time they had, the little time they had. Every second ticking by, every second was worth something and nothing and everything because they were running out of time.

Lily was about to recall a funny moment involving Potter and Black and a prank-gone-wrong when she noticed a subtle shift in Marlene's mood and frowned. Lost in her thoughts, Marlene was disturbingly quiet with a thinking look on her face, a thinking look that wasn't fraught with mischievousness like it usually was. It was more like a shaky, pensive look, a look that conveyed uncertain thoughts about the admittedly frightening ambiguity of the future.

"What are you thinking about, Marly?" she murmured in a low voice.

"What are we going to do after Hogwarts, Lils?" she questioned in a solemn tone that worried Lily.

She bit her lip. What was she getting at? They were planning to become Aurors, weren't they? It had been their dream, an exciting and captivating dream since fifth year. But recently, the clearness of her future had been shrouded by bloodcurdling, heartbroken screams and earth-shattering news of dead relatives and tears pounding down the faces all around her. Some things just couldn't be, and some days she knew what could, some days she didn't. Everything was spinning wildly out of control, and it frustrated her and clawed at her mind because she was so used to being in control and knowing the placement of everything around her.

And everything was in shambles. Torn, shredded, scattered.

"We're going to be Aurors, aren't we? Isn't that what we've always said?"

Marlene gave her a pointed look that told Lily exactly what was running through Marlene's mind. The ongoing war. The dispute over the right of Muggle-borns to learn magic. The injustice.

"Don't be stupid, Lils. You know _exactly _what I'm talking about."

"I…I don't know, yet. We've got a few months ahead of us to decide," Lily began unsurely.

And then, Marlene exploded like a ticking timebomb detonated before its set time.

"I'm rubbish at everything, everything but defending the people I love. We might have only a few months to _live_, let alone decide whether we're going to fight. And soon enough, we'll _all _have to pick a side. Dammit, Lily. I'm not doing this for the sheer rawness of the feeling I get when I duel. I'm so fucking _scared_, but I need to fight. I don't care what everybody else says. I don't care what you have to say about it. I just _have to fight_. And the world can't stop me from doing something I need to do. I'll go down fighting, if it's the last thing I do. It's the most honourable thing on this earth, to go down fighting," she declares earnestly with a determination that scares Lily.

They had never really talked about the war going on. They knew that some of the Slytherins at their school were going over to the Death Eaters' side when they graduated. But they had never deemed fighting as a possibility after Hogwarts. Well, at least, Lily hadn't.

The idea of them fighting seemed so unreal, a nightmare, an intangible thought that drifted away from her fingertips. What could they do? They were only seventeen—they were only seventeen living in a nightmare.

But apparently, it had been troubling Marlene because of the evident candour that highlighted her obstinate words. Her eyes were unbalanced, a kaleidoscope of emotions and turmoil. She was already breaking from the war, breaking from everything, from the loss of her father, from the possibility of losing everything. Something about the fragility, the vulnerability clearly portrayed in her words, eyes, face stirred up the Gryffindor courage within the red-haired girl. If Marlene was going to fight, then Lily would fight by her side.

"If you fight, I'll fight as well. We stick together no matter what," she promised.

Marlene just looked at Lily with unshed tears of happiness and gratefulness in her eyes and threw her arms around her, enveloping her best friend in a heartfelt hug and messing up the braid that Lily had started. Lily reciprocated the hug, feeling tears of her own well up in her jade eyes. They had stuck together all these years, and after all this time, they're fighting next to each other until the very end with an undying determination set ablaze.

They were unstoppable, undefeatable, _unbreakable_.

Nothing could break them.

_Nothing_.

"We'll get through this, Lily. We _will_," Marlene vowed.

They were only seventeen.

They were only seventeen and they were only _children_ fighting in a war they didn't belong in.

And they were going to _live_.

They were going to live to defy reality, to become war heroes, to tell the tale of their victories.

They _had_ to live.

They just had to.

* * *

**A/N: I simply adore their friendship, and I tried to do it justice. So what do you think? I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for no bashing. **

**Happy Holidays, everyone!**

**And please, don't favourite without reviewing! =)**

**-nic.**


End file.
